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Melody of Strings Flower Basket (Hanakago)

Kosuge Shōchikudō Japanese

1983

Not on view

Shōchikudō had no intention of becoming a bamboo artist and did not formally study under his father, Kosuge Chikudō (1895–1966), but his work was accepted by the Tokyo Craft Arts Exhibition when he was just fourteen. After World War II, the Niigata Prefectural government hired him to teach bamboo basketry, his work was admitted to the Nitten exhibitions, and he became one of the seventeen founding members of the Japan Bamboo Artists Association in 1955.

He eventually turned his attention away from public exhibitions and toward design, manufacturing bamboo brooches and collaborating with fashion designers such as Issey Miyake (born 1938). He made Melody of Strings using a type of parallel construction (kushime).

Melody of Strings Flower Basket (Hanakago), Kosuge Shōchikudō (Japanese, 1921–2003), Timber bamboo and rattan, Japan — This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Melody of Strings Flower Basket (Hanakago), Kosuge Shōchikudō (Japanese, 1921–2003), Timber bamboo and rattan, Japan

Melody of Strings Flower Basket (Hanakago), Kosuge Shōchikudō (Japanese, 1921–2003), Timber bamboo and rattan, Japan

This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

小管小竹堂造花籃

Title: Melody of Strings Flower Basket (Hanakago)

Artist: Kosuge Shōchikudō (Japanese, 1921–2003)

Period: Shōwa period (1926–89)

Date: 1983

Culture: Japan

Medium: Timber bamboo and rattan

Dimensions: H. 15 3/4 in. (40 cm); W. 29 1/4 in. (74.3 cm); D. 7 1/2 in. (19.1 cm)

Classification: Bamboo

Credit Line: Lent by Diane and Arthur Abbey

The Met

Asian Art at The Met

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world.